Sermon preached 4/05
THE TRANSFORMED LIFE OF A DISCIPLE
by Pastor Byron K. Maynard
Jesus never hid from his disciples what it would cost to follow him. The Apostle Paul also testified of this when he said, What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ Phil 3:8 NIV
I know this as a personal fact in my own life, when I received Christ as my personal Savior several years ago, I SPENT THE FIRST 20 YEARS OF MY LIFE TRYING TO FIND MYSELF. SINCE COMING TO JESUS MANY YEARS AGO, NOW I’M TRYING TO GET OVER MYSELF. I know that it’s only through the transforming power of the Word of God working through me that I can become a true disciple of Christ.
Being a disciple means to walk as Jesus walked. I John 2:5-6. When we walk as Jesus walked we will experience transformational changes in our lives. We will experience:
1) A transformed mind. Romans 8:6; Romans 12:2
2) A transformed heart. Matthew 5:8. Luke 6:45
3) A transformed lifestyle. Ephesians 4:22-24 Colossians 3:5-17
1) A DISCIPLE HAS A TRANSFORMED MIND.
The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace. Rom 8:6 NIV
but be transformed by the renewing of your mind . Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is — his good, pleasing and perfect will. Rom 12:2 NIV
I have been a pastor for nearly twenty-five years. During those years, one thing I have noticed in counseling with people, for many, their minds have become garbage dumps. It has become the place where they dump past failures, bad information, broken down relationship experiences, etc. It has become the place where they dump things broken, things failed, things camouflaged in their lives. They can’t become fully devoted disciples of Christ because they won’t allow God to clean up their dump. Yes, they are saved and love by God, but they always seem to be experiencing spiritual defeat. They expect to live lives blessed by God yet they are allowing their minds to remain a "garbage from the past" landfill.
The garbage they keep dumping in their mind is like the baggage they take with them when traveling. Have you ever noticed the amount of baggage some people carry when they travel? It’s no wonder why people are too tired to serve Jesus. Too exhausted to become fully devoted followers of Christ. The baggage is too heavy. The garbage is too much to carry around and they are easily fatigued. For them, serving Jesus is not a joy, it becomes another bad experience, another relationship that has broken-down, another failure they are trying to camouflage. The garbage that God wants to take away is unforgiveness, guilt, discontentment with life, fear of the future, and everything else that restricts them in following him wholeheartedly.
A disciple of Christ realizes how much he or she is hindered by these things, dives into God’s Word, and allows the Holy Spirit to deal with these barrier causing issues. Following Jesus is not a quick fix to your problems. It has taken your whole life to get in the mess where you are. It will take time studing His Word and applying Biblical principles to fix many of your problems. It means spending quality, uninterrupted time with God through prayer. It will take time for God to deal with the baggage issues in your life. In one sense, you will never be fully cleansed from all the mind garbage, at least in this life. On the other hand, God will fully cleanse you and will make you "whiter than snow" in a heart sense. When God cleanses you, your mind will no longer become a garbage dump. A passionate disciple of Christ will no longer allow his or her mind to become a place where garbage is stored. For a follower of Christ the mind will become the place where the Holy Spirit becomes the housekeeper.
2) A DISCIPLE RECEIVES A TRANSFORMED HEART.
In our society today, I believe too many people have made themselves too busy to wholeheartedly follow Christ. TO FOLLOW JESUS, YOU MUST HAVE THE "HEART" TO FOLLOW. Most people do not want to be followers, they want to become leaders, especially when it comes to following Jesus. They want to take the lead, they want to be the ones in charge of their lives.
The Scripture says, Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matt 11:29-30 NIV
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. Matthew 5:8
The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks. Luke 6:45 NIV
Dwight Pentecost writes about this idea of radical Christian living, or true discipleship. He sums it up in three words: curious, convinced, and committed. A disciple will be one who is curious, convinced, and committed to the things of Christ. These are all issues of the heart.
A disciple of Jesus Christ will be curious in that he or she will listen to what Jesus speaks through His Word and will further investigate the deep truths of Scripture and the claims God makes on his or her life.
A disciple of Jesus Christ will be convinced (or convicted) of his sin through God’s word and will make a transformational lifestyle change. He will desire to align his life to the standard of Scriptural Christianity.
A disciple of Jesus Christ will be committed to the teaching, proclamation, and personal application of God’s Word.
A study conducted several years ago concluded that only 10% of Evangelicals live lives different from non-Christians. So it was determined that Sunday School was ineffective and many churches dropped Sunday School and look for other methods to train disciples.
Another study conducted, a few years ago came to the conclusion that only 9 % of the Evangelicals live lives different to those of non-Christians.
– George Barna, in his book "Think Like Jesus"
So, some have concluded that small groups are not working and are thinking about other ways of discipleship making.
There is a problem does not lie in Sunday School training or small group training. The problem is a problem of the heart. We are spoon-feeding believers with all this wonderful Bible knowledge, but they are not receiving a transformation of the heart, a transformation of the "spirit man." You cannot teach heart-transformation to people. Yes, we can teach accurate Bible doctrine, and we can teach wonderful life-application principles, but a change of heart can only be produced through the working of the Holy Spirit. We need to create an atmosphere in our churches, and in our Sunday Schools, and in our small group meetings, where the Holy Spirit has the freedom to attend these meetings, and is welcome to move and work freely.
Our local church does not carry the label "Pentecostal," "Charismatic," or "Full-Gospel" (I despise labels, because they are often inaccurate or misleading, I do believe we are blessed by the Holy Spirit’s anointing in our meetings and exercise the "freedom of the Holy Spirit") Church. Yet, through discipleship we need to teach our people how the Holy Spirit is willing to work in their lives. How the Holy Spirit wants to work in our lives, as leaders, on a daily basis to bring us closer to God. How the Spirit of God wants to work in our lives to bring non-disciples, non-believers, non-growing Christians into an active, refreshing life in Christ and in the Body of Christ. We must mentor stagnant and growing believers through discipleship making principles and in the Word of God. But, we must set the example by experiencing radical heart transformation in our own lives. We must make sure stagnant and growing disciples can witness first hand a flourishing hunger for Christ in us.
Unfortunately, it has become too easy to get caught up in the busyness of life that we neglect living abundant, full of joy, filled with fervent passion, lives for Christ.
I am reminded of illustration of the logger who became so busy cutting logs he failed to take time to sharpen his saw:There was once a logger who told himself repeatedly that he needed to stop and sharpen his saw, but he continued to cut anyway. Unfortunately at the end of the day, as night began to fall, he sat exhausted next to a sizable pile of uncut wood. This man wasn’t stupid. He knew that his saw desperately needed sharpening. He also knew that the more he cut, the duller the blade would become. Yet he could not bring himself to sharpen the saw. How many of us are like that man? For most of us, the pursuit of tasks drives out any thought of maintenance.
If we are going to maintain spiritual health and grow in our spiritual lives to remain faithful disciples for Christ we must experience radical transformation of the heart. A heart that has experienced radical transformation will never be satisfied when the spiritual journey begins to stagnate. They will be broken by their own sinfulness. They will realize that if anything good is to come, it is only because of God’s grace working in them and through them. They will receive no satisfaction in personal recognition when God blesses them, for they remember, they are only one beggar telling another beggar where to find the bread of life.
If you have never had a heart transformation, a heart overhull, you probably have been extremely frustrated with spiritual things and are experiencing very little personal spiritual growth. But remember, you are right now exactly where you want to be spiritually because your actions prove it.
Why do you need discipleship training? Because you must set at Jesus feet to be a disciple. You need mentors in the faith who can help train you to grow as a disciple. If you have had a heart transformation you will possess a desire to be discipled and you will be willing to become a servant/disciple.
What is a disciple? Warren W. Wiersbe describes discipleship as a process of self-denial: "To deny self does not mean to deny things. It means to give yourself wholly to Christ and share in His shame and death."
"Discipleship is like the generation gap between parents and children: We often tell kids to grow up. They can’t grow up. They need mentoring. They can’t grow up because they’ve never been there before. We as parents, have been there. The goal is not for them to grow up but for us to become like them and show them how. That’s what Jesus did. He became like them to show them how." --Dan Riemenschneider, Heathy Church Initiative Instructor with the Missionary Church, Inc.
Those who have received Jesus Christ as their personal Savior are on a spiritual journey. Maybe we are not where we should be, but we are all on this journey together. Our goal on this journey is to ask ourselves the question, "What is the next step?"
The church is called to be a factory for discipleship making, not a warehouse for believers.
Discipleship training teaches you perseverance. It will help you be consistent and persistent in your walk with Christ. Perseverence is not what you need to live on the mountaintop, perseverance is what you need to live in the long valleys between the mountain top experiences. It is the process that teaches you to become more Christlike. Discipleship training teaches you to do what Christ did, and become what Christ was and is. Through discipleship we learn that we no longer go to church because we are the church.
3) A DISCIPLE LIVES A TRANSFORMED LIFESTYLE:
You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Eph 4:22-24 NIV
Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature:
Col 3:5 NIV
You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these:
Col 3:7-8 NIV
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
Col 3:12-14 NIV
I mentioned earlier I spent the first twenty years of my life trying to find myself. Since coming to Jesus many years ago, now I’m trying to get over myself. Self is the biggest obstacle to serving Christ.
"Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven." Matthew 7:21-23 I find it very interesting that those who cry "Lord, Lord," in this verse were obviously the ones who thought they were all right. They knew the right words to say, they knew the right "lingo." They called themselves His followers. Their speech had been transformed, but their minds, hearts, and lifestyles remained untouched by the power and cleansing of a Holy God.
Being a disciple of Christ means having a transformed lifestyle. It’s not just talking the talk but rather walking the walk.
Survey polls in recent years have shown that those who call themselves Christians are just as likely to have been divorced, purchased lottery tickets, watch PG-13, R, or X rated movies, become addicted to pornography, or use alcohol as much as their non-Christian counterparts.
Such lifestyles don’t seem to be fitting for the true disciples who are supposed to be willing to give their lives to following Jesus.
We are instructed in Scripture to put-off the former lifestyle. Put to death whatever belongs to your earthly nature. You once walked in these ways, but now you are to rid yourself of such things.
A few years ago I had breakfast with a missionary who traveled and established churches in persecuted parts of the world. I asked him what was the main difference between United States Christians and Christians in persecuted parts of the world. He wasted no time in responding, "in our country (U.S.A.) we talk about commitment, in the persecuted countries they talk about sacrifice." It is common for Christians in the persecuted parts of the world to sacrifice their lives for Christ. Whereas, U.S. Christian only need talk about commitment to Christ.
For most followers of Christ we will never be asked to die for him, but he does expect us to live for him.
In Luke 14:25-35, we are told to take up the cross and follow Christ. The cross was a cruel form of punishment used by the Romans. When a criminal was forced to "carry his cross" to the place of execution, it was commonly known that this person was saying goodbye to everything. There could be no turning or coming back. Jesus uses this illustration with the intent of demonstrating to us that following him commands that same kind of farewell to our own will and desires as we commit ourselves to Him.
A disciple will have a transformed mind, a transformed, heart, and a transformed lifestyle. When we live our lives our way we will fail every single time, but if we live our lives God’s way we will succeed every single time. I must warn you that to become a fully devoted follower of Christ is to set a target on your back and Satan will attack.
The key issues of discipleship will address who you are in Christ and who God is. You are a child of the King. God is your protector and defender. Satan will attack you and he will win some battles, but God will win the ultimate victory in you and through you if you become His disciple.
The next few weeks I will be sharing with you some principles how we can be strengthened in the Body of Christ and what we must do to continue to be a healthy church.
Let’s pray:
